Chapter 56: Chapter 56

At the Prefect’s Yamen, the seating arrangements were the same as the day before. Wang Yantong sat at the head, with Xu Ren and Wen Yun seated to his left. On the right, the clerk responsible for recording the proceedings was already prepared.

Farther down on the right, Eunuch He and Eunuch Shen sat in Grand Tutor’s Chairs with their legs crossed, each holding a teacup. They had not even bothered to put on their official hats, leaving them casually on a small side table. Several young eunuchs in green official robes stood behind them with their hands lowered, their expressions relaxed.

Only after fifteen minutes had passed did Zhao Jiu finally saunter in, dressed in a blue-green Flying Fish Robe.

Upon entering and seeing everyone already seated, he ignored the men at the head and first cupped his hands in greeting to Eunuch He and Eunuch Shen.

Eunuch He lowered his teacup and gave Zhao Jiu a questioning look. Zhao Jiu nodded, indicating that everything had been handled.

Though the three said nothing, they exchanged smiles as if they had just concluded some nefarious deal.

Once Zhao Jiu had taken his seat on the left, Xu Ren impatiently called out, “Bring in the accused official Chen Fuyi.”

Xu Ren’s reasoning was simple. Lin Kui was a tough nut to crack. He had also interrogated the other senior prefectural officials, but nearly all of them had either rambled evasively or feigned deafness and blindness. Some refused to admit even such ironclad crimes as murdering an Imperial Envoy or embezzlement.

Only Chen Fuyi, who had little seniority and even less backing, had been somewhat willing to talk. If Xu Ren did not interrogate him, whom else could he interrogate?

Two members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard carried Chen Fuyi into the hall. His complexion looked much better today. Although he still could not sit and had to lie prone on the floor, at least some color had returned to his face.

“Chen Fuyi, do you acknowledge your guilt?” Xu Ren immediately seized the initiative. Had Lu Wenyu not forcefully intervened several days ago, he would have unearthed quite a few things by now. What a pity—truly, what a pity. This interrogation was meant to finalize the confession while Lu Wenyu was absent. Once it was set down in writing, even Lu Wenyu would have nothing to say.

But things did not go as he wished. Chen Fuyi displayed none of his earlier panic. Instead, he first surveyed the room. When he saw Zhao Jiu’s familiar face and the two eunuchs leisurely drinking tea off to the side, he made his decision.

“Magistrate Xu, hasn’t the evidence of my embezzlement already been conclusively established?”

The question caught Xu Ren off guard. Meanwhile, the two old foxes, Zhao Jiu and Eunuch He, exchanged smiles, their gazes filled with the calm certainty that everything had been settled.

Though somewhat surprised, Xu Ren continued, “Let me ask you this: when the river embankments were built, whose orders were you following, and who else was involved?”

“Me. I wanted them built, and I had them built myself! I couldn’t bear to see the common people suffering from the floods, so the yamen allocated the funds, and we organized the labor,” Chen Fuyi answered decisively as soon as Xu Ren finished speaking.

At those words, not only Zhao Jiu and the two eunuchs but even Wang Yantong, who was presiding over the interrogation, had to suppress their laughter.

What was a corrupt official like him doing pretending to care about the common people? He couldn’t bear their suffering? He had shown no such reluctance when embezzling money. Yet here he was, defending crate after crate of silver with righteous conviction.

Xu Ren nearly fainted from rage. If you were going to recant your confession, at least come up with a better excuse!

Knowing he would get nothing more out of Chen Fuyi on that subject, Xu Ren changed tack. “What about the disaster-relief funds? Was that also for the good of the country and its people?”

Chen Fuyi smiled instead, gazing at Xu Ren with curved lips like a street thug teasing a young maiden. “What kind of question is that, Lord Xu? Three counties were flooded. Did I, Chen Fuyi, fail to provide disaster relief? I cooked the porridge in strict accordance with the Laws of Great Qi!”

“The Imperial Court’s disaster relief called for neither coarse rice nor rice bran!” Xu Ren shouted furiously.

“Can coarse rice and rice bran be cooked into porridge or not?”

Chen Fuyi asked the question with complete confidence. He genuinely refused to admit wrongdoing over the disaster relief. With so little money available, he had practically cast aside his dignity to beg for that coarse rice and rice bran.

He had embezzled some of the disaster-relief silver, true, but not much—only ten percent! Even if the matter were argued before Heaven itself, he would still consider himself a good official!

Other officials skimmed at least forty percent, while he had taken only ten. How could that count as embezzlement? At most, it was ordinary wastage!

Xu Ren slammed the table and shot to his feet. “You replaced white rice with coarse rice and even rice bran, yet you still dare to sound so self-righteous! You have truly broadened my horizons!”

“Heh. It’s not as if I took that coarse rice and rice bran home. Didn’t the disaster victims eat it in the end? I refuse to admit guilt for that!” Chen Fuyi scoffed mockingly.

Seeing Xu Ren fall silent, Chen Fuyi shifted into a more comfortable position on the floor, displaying the brazen air of a man beyond all shame or fear. He even raised his head and asked Zhao Jiu for a cup of tea.

Zhao Jiu held his teacup as ten thousand cries of “motherfucker” echoed through his mind. If someone like this could become an official, Great Qi was truly finished.

Eunuch Shen did not have nearly as many thoughts. After taking a sip of his tea, he placed the cup in Chen Fuyi’s hands with a genial smile. Chen Fuyi did not stand on ceremony. He downed the tea and immediately looked like a victorious general preparing to go another round with Xu Ren.

“Bring in the accused official Lin Kui.”

Out of options, Xu Ren could only start with someone else. Over the past two days, everyone else he had interrogated had either recanted their confession or cried injustice. Only Lin Kui had said nothing. Naturally, one always went for the target that seemed easiest to squeeze.

Escorted by two members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Lin Kui walked into the hall. Without saying a word, he sat down on a stool and took the teacup from Chen Fuyi’s hand. Despite being fully shackled, his leisurely demeanor made him look nothing like a criminal.

“Lord Lin, through whose hands did the public funds for the riverworks and the disaster-relief funds pass? On whose instructions were you acting?” Xu Ren’s question practically demanded specific names. As long as Lin Kui answered, he was bound to expose a flaw.

But Lin Kui was a seasoned veteran of officialdom. Naturally, he recognized the trap hidden in Xu Ren’s words.

“No one,” he replied coldly. “Was it wrong for us to build the river embankments ourselves? Did we not provide disaster relief?”

Lin Kui smiled, a peculiar light gleaming in his eyes. All he wanted was to stay alive. Now that exile might be possible, he certainly was not going to make a full confession merely to grasp at some slim hope of survival.

He understood what the higher-ups wanted. They simply wanted to rake in money without letting anyone know that money was their objective.

Exile? Heh. That depended on where they sent him.

Hexi and Annan were already in complete chaos. Forget sending exiles there—it was good enough if those places did not rebel. Lingnan? What a joke. That was a hub of overseas trade, not some impoverished backwater. Would sending him there be exile or a reward?

That left Ningzhou.

And the man responsible for determining exile destinations in Ningzhou was Lu Wenyu! Being exiled to Ningzhou and going no farther than Shengjing were two entirely different things!

Once Lin Kui had reasoned through the key points, he had long since come to terms with everything.

He had a way to survive!

After hearing Lin Kui’s answer, Xu Ren sighed helplessly. It was all over. Without anyone noticing, these people had already reached an understanding with the higher-ups. They intended to shoulder all the blame outright. No matter how much longer he interrogated them, he would learn nothing.

When Eunuch He saw that Xu Ren and the other two officials had fallen silent, he decisively stepped in.

“My lords, since we have reached a conclusion, have them sign and affix their marks. Once the written depositions have been sealed with wax and stamped, I can submit them for the Emperor’s perusal.”

The recording clerk clutched the written depositions and stared at the men seated at the head of the hall in helpless silence. If they did not speak, he did not dare ask Chen Fuyi and Lin Kui to affix their marks.

“Have them affix their marks. We’ve been trying this case for so long; we ought to reach some kind of conclusion!” Zhao Jiu echoed Eunuch He. The sooner this dogshit case ended, the sooner he could start making money.

With no other choice—and unwilling to offend anyone—Wang Yantong cheerfully gave the order.

The two men below were delighted and hurried forward to affix their marks. Thus, the case was brought to a hasty and perfunctory end.

Zhao Jiu did not linger. He was the first to leave the yamen. The intelligence from the Ghost Market had already arrived.

He visited the familiar coffin shop, sent Six Fingers a letter, and returned to the relay station with intelligence that had cost him several hundred taels of silver.

He hired a carriage and would set out for Mount Tai the next day.